Nokia tablet at MWC: it's really not going to happen

A year ago, Nokia surprised everyone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona by unveiling the 41-megapixel 808 PureView.

And it's increasingly looking like the appearance of a Nokia tablet at this year's show will be just as big a surprise, as all indications are suggesting there just isn't one out there.

Research firm Strategy Analytics has consulted its magic eight ball... er, sorry, done “extensive channel checks” and reckons Nokia may have a couple of interesting bits and pieces to show off in Barca at the end of the month, but a tablet along the lines of the mockup pictured above simply isn't one of them.

Instead, Nokia is likely to concentrate its MWC efforts on the next wave of Lumia WP8 smartphones. Current indications point to the announcement of a couple of downmarket models in the Lumia 520 and Lumia 720, plus there's a slim chance we might also catch a glimpse of the PureView-tastic EOS, though it's more likely that'll only surface later in the year.

So what of Strategy Analytics' prediction of a tablet no-show from Nokia at MWC? It's entirely believable and not in the least surprising.

The suggestion that Nokia is in fact working on a tablet remains based mainly on its admission that it's interested in the notion in theory. But it has also said – again and again – that for now it's focusing purely on phones, and there hasn't been a single scrap of hard evidence to the contrary.

But with MWC now just days away we really are in silly season as far as mobile rumours are concerned, so don't be surprised if the Nokia tablet rumours keep on coming.